Seattle man tied to terror camp

SEATTLE -- Federal authorities on Wednesday charged a former Seattle man with conspiring to help al Qaeda and set up a terrorist training camp in rural Oregon.\nErnest James Ujaama was named in a two-count indictment that accused him of conspiracy to provide material support and resources for al Qaeda and with using, carrying, possessing and discharging firearms during a crime.\nThe indictment contends Ujaama, a Muslim who was born James Ernest Thompson, led a conspiracy to set up a training camp in Bly, Ore.\nIn October and November 1999, at meetings with co-conspirators there and in Seattle, the indictment says, Ujaama led discussions about the need "for further training, in order to be able to attend violent jihad-training camps in Afghanistan, the commission of armed robbery, the building of underground bunkers to hide ammunition and weapons, the creation of poisonous materials for public consumption, and the firebombing of vehicles."\n"In or about October 1999, after visiting the property in Bly, Oregon, Ujaama proposed…the establishment of a jihad training camp on the Bly property," it says.\nUjaama has repeatedly maintained his innocence. In a written statement Tuesday, he accused the government of conducting a witch hunt.\n"Should it be the policy of this government to convict innocent people before any hearing or before any trial?" Ujaama asked. "My constitutional rights, my civil liberties and my future have been grossly violated in a bid to seek political gain, not justice or truth."\nUjaama was arrested July 22 at a relative's home in Denver as a material witness to terrorist activity. He was flown to Virginia, where he remains in the Alexandria Adult Detention Center.\nUjaama's attorney in Denver, Daniel Sears, said he suspected the government was using the material-witness statute to hold Ujaama until it could develop charges.\nHe said Ujaama has not testified before a grand jury.\n"I became concerned the material witness warrant was being used as a pretext to keep him in custody without any charges being filed against him and without any real intention to seek his testimony," Sears said Wednesday.\nJames Ujaama's brother, Mustafa -- born Jon Thompson and also a Muslim convert -- said Wednesday that his brother remains in good spirits, despite five weeks behind bars.\n"He knows he didn't do anything," he said.\nThe brothers grew up in Seattle. James Ujaama is married, with two children.\nMany community leaders in Seattle have praised the brothers' work to eradicate drugs and prostitution from their neighborhood. They also worked to recruit former gang members and others into the now-defunct Dar-us-Salaam mosque. Other members of the mosque have also been under scrutiny for possible ties to Osama bin Laden.